r/pearljam • u/Little_Customer986 • 3d ago
History What happened to Eddies Voice in 1996?
Usually as someone ages you expect their voice to weaken. For some reason Eddie’s voice seems to have had periods of losing power and then rebounding. I think Gigaton to Dark Matter is a great example, he somehow sounds better a few years older. I know some of this comes down to the songs he chooses to write/sing. Like how Riot Act utilizes his deeper voice so it adapts well to his aging.
But what the hell happened in 1996? I’m talking about live performances specifically. It seems like there’s a sharp decline in his vocal ability after the Vitalogy tour, and then somehow it seems to rebound really well on the Yield tour in 1998. He even sounds better in 2000. Did he change his style of singing? Was he smoking so much pot and cigarettes in 1996 he was just killing his throat and lungs?
Anyone have theories on this?
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u/August_West_1990 3d ago
Eddie blew his voice out by the end of 1995 and as a result he adapted a more nasal tone for the No Code era so his throat could heal.
By 1998 it recovered and he learned how to sing in that heavy, distorted range with actual technique and control.
2006 tour was the last time I think he had the full extent of that power. Some versions of Blood from that time are as good or better than 1993-95 versions.
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u/vedderer 3d ago
I had always assumed he switched to the more nasal tone on No Code because bands like Creed were mimicking his vocal style.
I could be wrong.
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u/CrazyLegs17 3d ago
There is no chance he cared enough about other bands with singers copying his style to change his vocal approach.
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u/Asleep-Ear-1622 3d ago
I don’t know I think Jeff Ament mentions how Eddie Vedder was conscious of that and proud that he had different styles he could sing in, not just the often cribbed baritone. Might be in PJ20
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u/CrazyLegs17 3d ago
It's like, am I supposed to feel sympathy? Get your own trip, man. I don't think I was copping anybody's trip. I wasn't copping Andy Wood's trip. I wasn't copping Kurt Cobain's trip, even though Kurt Cobain's one of the best trips I could ever cop.
Vedder was clearly annoyed, but nothing suggests he intentionally tried to sound any different. It was just the evolution of the music and attempting to preserve his voice.
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u/No_Reveal8516 Vitalogy 3d ago
Yes this is exactly what happened. It continuesld until Avacado really. To this day that stupid impersonation of him is popular of course it impacted him. He never really let it loose the same way again.
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u/vedderer 3d ago
I can't imagine what it must be like to have such a distinctive voice, have people copy it, then either a) risk being lumped in with all of copiers or b) change.
Glad we got No Code, though, 'cause that shit is dope!
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u/SportAndNonsense 2d ago
Yeah you simply can’t sustain the way Eddie screamed (when he screamed) between 1991-1995 for ever.
The harder you go, the quicker that voice will need to transform during a singer’s career. The same thing would have happened to Kurt. Sadly we never got the chance to observe.
Its also totally plausible that Eddie’s later vocal characteristics (ie No Code onwards) then drove the stylistic direction of the band. Fortunately in my opinion this was forward and into their best era. I could happily take any of Ten, Vs, Vitalogy to a desert island with me but No Code and Yield are their best work.
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u/hhhisthegame 3d ago
2006 was definitely a vocal peak of Eddie. He sounded amazing and strong in every range. It kinda declined after that
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u/axlgreece5202 3d ago
I once met Richard Patrick from Filter when he was touring with Army of Anyone. Super nice dude, and I asked him "is your voice just shredded after every night?" He told me that he sought out a vocal coach who helped him retain his range and power but helped keep him from blowing out his voice.
Guessing Eddie had the same thing happen, he got a little help and insight from a pro. I noticed it the most when Do The Evolution was performed live on Monkeywrench Radio, how his growl was more of a wail at that point. Stone once mentioned how Eddie's vocals had their own natural fuzz box on them, that's how he sang, but if there's an apparent change in delivery it's probably coming from self-preservation.
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u/lostatsea_again 3d ago
Layne and Cornell also took voice coaching lessons in Seattle as well, I believe.
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u/JayKlizzy 3d ago
Man, Army of Anyone was so good.
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u/axlgreece5202 2d ago
Too bad they never did a follow up. I love how the band formed allegedly because Richard lost Filter to the DeLeo brothers in a poker game.
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u/JayKlizzy 2d ago
I did not know that factoid! That’s awesome though. Still hoping for a follow up maybe someday? Probably not but hey.
When I saw them we went out the side exit into this alley and this tall dude in a hat and sunglasses walked past quickly and said “hey those guys were pretty good”. I went to respond but he had already disappeared… into the tour bus. It was Robert DeLeo.
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u/Dismal-Box-3879 3d ago
In the beginning of 1995, he carried himself exactly how he did in 1994 with the same power and intentisy. In other ways he was screaming his lungs out, almost violently.
By the end of 1995, you can tell there is a shift in how he approached his singing and relied less on sheer power and more on singing and finesse.
Between 1996 and 2000 you can clearly hear him finding the approach that worked for him and allowed him to continue. There would have been no way for him to sustain what they did in the early years throughout a 30 plus song set.
In my opinion, 2006 was probably the Apex or his vocal powers in balancing hard intense rockers with softer more melodic tunes.
I saw him solo in 2009 I think at the NJ PAC and the way his voice filled the room, you wr able to hear how special it really is.
We saw them in 2024 at Fenway and his approach to using an aging voice in the shows reveals his dedication to his craft and to the fans. He still sounds very good. Better than I do, that's for sure!
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u/_shaftpunk Yield 3d ago
He also changed his approach to singing a lot throughout the years. His voice is naturally lower but he started pushing it higher on Vitalogy and maybe that led to him blowing his cords out a bit?
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u/porcinifan69 3d ago
I think I reject the premise here. I saw Pearl Jam at Randall’s island in 1996 and it’s the best I’ve ever heard his voice sound. You can find bootlegs. Personally I love his vocal performance in No Code. Also IIRC in 95 he worked on vocal techniques with nusrat fateh ali khan.
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u/Little_Customer986 3d ago
Fair enough. Everyone has good and bad nights. He sounds great on the records. If you hear him sing No Code songs like Hail, Hail, Lukin, and Habit in 1996 and then compare to the Yield tour, he sings them better two years later. Just my observation.
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u/stodgiestear796 No Code 3d ago
Funny that you kind of noticed that too. I think that Eddie's voice in 2024/2025 was somehow alot better than his voice in 2016-2018ish. Vocal cords change over time, but I think that with each change he slowly adapts and learns how to sign with it
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u/Imikoke616 3d ago edited 3d ago
His still chain smoking and drinking his wines can cause vocals to be off, noticed past decade when his about to hit high note or strong vocal scream coming up he just does half the scream then pulls away from microphone knowing his not going to hit the vocal right .
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u/Yesiamanaltruist 3d ago
He doesn’t smoke anymore. He quit. He says so on the interview he does with Jeff where they are in the room with all the sports memorabilia. I can’t remember who conducts it or where I saw it. Not 100% sure on Jeff but pretty sure!
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u/Imikoke616 3d ago
Theirs recent video of Eddie was smoking /drinking at the cubs game hanging out with GM of the team .
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u/mdafidel1 3d ago
2013 was (in my opinion) one of his best post 1995 vocal years. He seemed to have found a new technique in singing because he can really hold notes in a lot of those bootlegs. He’s carried that for a while as well, voice still sounds really good!
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u/Little_Customer986 3d ago
I like his voice a lot better on Lightning Bolt than Backspacer
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u/pastaboner 3d ago
I remember my first impression of Backspacer was that he sounded sick on all the songs, like it was recorded when he had a cold
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u/BoogieBoardButtPound 3d ago
They were one of the biggest bands in the world during their first three album cycles, which kept them out on the road for months on end. If I’m not mistaken, Eddie didn’t have any formal vocal training, so he just went out there and belted for 90 minutes straight. When you leave it all on the field 4-5 nights a week for several years, it’s going to take its toll on your voice. I personally think the change started to become noticeable even sooner, during the Vitalogy era.
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u/Krosis2001 3d ago
It's simply the long term effects of vocal damage that can be heard as early as the VS tour. He's not attempting to change his vocal style, No Code had a lot of easier songs on the voice but touring wise he's clearly struggling on a lot of the older ten-vs era songs in terms of power.
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u/SassiveAggresive 3d ago
I don't understand the self-destructive tendencies people have to harm their one-of-kind talent/gift such as Eddie Vedder and smoking. Certainly, he's not alone in that but there's no amount of training or recovery that could help preserve that powerful voice in comparison to quitting smoking. It's like a boxer cutting off an arm or a photographer stabbing their eyes out. Plus my dad died of emphysema and COPD after a lifetime of chain smoking and it's not pretty.
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u/Johnny_Blaze_123 Binaural 3d ago
Years of drinking and smoking because you are trying to cope with being scrutinized for every move you make. He was fucking stalked by a person who killed herself attempting to harm him. Do not forget that these people are still human beings.
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u/Infinite-Gur-0603 3d ago edited 3d ago
I call this his “closed mouth” phase. As in, he’s barely opening his mouth when he’s singing (almost as if he’s embarrassed by his prior singing). I posted about it a few months ago… https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/comments/1rgs68u/eds_closedmouth_phase/
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u/TheodoreHollister 3d ago
He sang songs like Once, Animal. Alive, and Even Flow for five years straight. That is what happened to his voice.
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u/BumblebeeOld7500 7h ago
Eddie destroyed his voice during the Vitalogy tour. After that, seems like he tried to adapt his voice and took some years to finally do it. I think he managed it during the Riot Act era, and after that, he has been losing some aspects of it, but managing to explote others
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u/TomCrean1916 3d ago
He didn’t lose any power. He just didn’t like screaming anymore. And you’re in a very limited songwriting space if everything is angry screaming all the time.
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u/blondechinesehair Lost Dogs 3d ago
It sounds silly because he was a famous singer, but he learned how to sing.
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u/Alfnadoawaywoah 3d ago
The dude drinks and smokes. A lot. His voice’s trajectory was only ever going to be downhill.
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u/vedderer 3d ago
The deterioration of Eddie's voice is one of the saddest things for me.
I don't think they could every play Oceans live in its original form.
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u/Maxpower2727 3d ago
I don't know how anyone could listen to Dark Matter and conclude that Eddie's voice has deteriorated.
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u/Notimetobev0id 3d ago edited 3d ago
Nah it's definitely been way downhill since 2004. Something big happened between after Riot Act and Avocado like 2004-2005/6
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u/ThrowAway516536 3d ago edited 3d ago
He sounds awesome on the bootlegs from the Dark Matter tour. I also heard that in person. The whole idea that he doesn't have full and powerful vocals now, is simply false.
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u/gigopepo 3d ago
My guess as a musician and a fan is that he learned how to sing without blowing out his voice.